HALO

The HALO research aircraft

The new High Altitude and LOng Range Research Aircraft (HALO) research aircraft heralds a new chapter in the history of German atmospheric research and Earth observation. HALO is based on a Gulfstream G 550 ultra long range business jet. The combination of range, cruising altitude, payload and comprehensive instrumentation make the aircraft a globally unique research platform.

View from the cockpit of HALO over the Amazon region

The ACRIDICON measurement flights lasted about seven hours. Among other things, the analyses included how clouds in clean rainforest air differ from those found over polluted and deforested regions. The image shows the nose boom of the HALO (High Altitude and LOng Range) research aircraft as it approaches a disintegrating storm.

DLR HALO research aircraft

The HALO high-altitude research aircraft (High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft): starting in late 2008, this modified business jet, a Gulfstream G 550, will join the DLR aircraft fleet in data-gathering flights around the globe.

First flight with bellypod

Side view of HALO

The HALO project was made possible by the Max Planck Society, members of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres and various other scientific institutes in the atmospheric research sector. In total, 31 research institutes are involved in the project.